skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Optimizations of spin-exchange relaxation-free magnetometer based on potassium and rubidium hybrid optical pumping

Journal Article · · Review of Scientific Instruments
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4902567· OSTI ID:22392258
; ;  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. School of Instrument Science and Opto-Electronics Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191 (China)
  2. School of Instrument Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096 (China)

The hybrid optical pumping atomic magnetometers have not realized its theoretical sensitivity, the optimization is critical for optimal performance. The optimizations proposed in this paper are suitable for hybrid optical pumping atomic magnetometer, which contains two alkali species. To optimize the parameters, the dynamic equations of spin evolution with two alkali species were solved, whose steady-state solution is used to optimize the parameters. The demand of the power of the pump beam is large for hybrid optical pumping. Moreover, the sensitivity of the hybrid optical pumping magnetometer increases with the increase of the power density of the pump beam. The density ratio between the two alkali species is especially important for hybrid optical pumping magnetometer. A simple expression for optimizing the density ratio is proposed in this paper, which can help to determine the mole faction of the alkali atoms in fabricating the hybrid cell before the cell is sealed. The spin-exchange rate between the two alkali species is proportional to the saturated density of the alkali vapor, which is highly dependent on the temperature of the cell. Consequently, the sensitivity of the hybrid optical pumping magnetometer is dependent on the temperature of the cell. We proposed the thermal optimization of the hybrid cell for a hybrid optical pumping magnetometer, which can improve the sensitivity especially when the power of the pump beam is low. With these optimizations, a sensitivity of approximately 5 fT/Hz{sup 1/2} is achieved with gradiometer arrangement.

OSTI ID:
22392258
Journal Information:
Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 85, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0034-6748
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English